Spending time meditating on Psalm 18:31 today
For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God?
Before I start breaking this verse down, I just want to say how much I love the certainty and stability that is captured in this small verse. YHVH is God and He is a rock… our firm foundation, place of safety and protection, ever the same, constant, reliable, and strong! So much peace in that knowledge.
That knowledge reminds me that I can trust Him completely and that my life is very safe in His hands. This verse feels like one you say to yourself on a hard day to remind yourself He’s gotcha covered 😉
God (‘el…)
The word for “God” in the first question is ‘elowahh (H433), which is often also written as ‘eloah and can refer to either a false god or the true God – it’s obvious which is intended here! I wish I knew enough Hebrew to understand why he used ‘elowahh instead of ‘elohim (H430), which is the word for “God” I’m more familiar with and is the word for God used at the end of the second question in this verse.
Ok I had to pause and go research that because I couldn’t let it go – LOL! I won’t get into all the details – you can read them for yourself if you want, the most helpful explanation I found was on Hebrews4Christians) – but what I found interesting is that the word choice ‘elowahh / ‘eloah is often used in conjunction with a description of strength or intensity like it is here in being tied with rock.
YHVH our Strength
I can’t help but feel that only reemphasizes my initial point about Him being our our firm foundation, place of safety and protection, strength, etc. How beautiful is that?!
The Hebrew for “the Lord” here is YHVH (H3068). Since even men can be referred to as lord, I think it’s a beautiful distinction to make to note it is Yahweh that we are speaking of – the one true Living God.
The work for “rock” is tsuwr (H6697), which has also been translated as rock (obviously), strength, God, beauty, mighty One, strong, etc. Again, the Word is reemphasizing strength!
Finally, the last word for “God” here is ‘elohim (H430), which means:
1) (plural)
a) rulers, judges
b) divine ones
c) angels
d) gods
2) (plural intensive – singular meaning)
a) god, goddess
b) godlike one
c) works or special possessions of God
d) the (true) God
e) God
Who is your “god”
It’s interesting to me because both words for “god” here reemphasize the fact that “god” is a simply title and can be applied to more than simply YHVH when it’s done in a negative sense. It makes me understand even further why it is important to know WHO your “god” is – not just in theory, but in action.
My “God” is YHVH – the Rock, the Holy One of Israel, my Salvation (Yeshua).
Coming back to the original verse, David is speaking much like we would today if we were talking about something incomparable. We do this in smaller things all the time, like “there is no ice cream like Aldens” or “there’s no cell phone but the iPhone”. Here David is simply acknowledging that yes, you could make other gods, but why in heaven’s name would you want to? There is NO God like YHVH! He is a ROCK!!!
YHVH thank You for being a ROCK – for being our strength and foundation, our protection and hiding place – there is no god like You! You are the only TRUE God. The only LIVING God. We choose to worship You. We choose You as our God!
Good word.